A number of early patents propose providing a writing implement such as a pen or pencil with a cylindrical internal chamber containing a roll of paper. The barrel of the writing implement has an access slot for feeding out the free end of the roll of paper. The paper could be withdrawn as needed by manually pulling it through the slot, and the paper supply could be replaced by disassembling the pen or pencil. See, for example, Donning U.S. Pat. No. 640,543 issued Jan. 2, 1900, Ross U.S. Pat. No. 2,073,719 issued Mar. 16, 1937, and Rieu, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 2,076,035 issued Apr. 6, 1937. Such writing implements were generally end-loaded, but Boust U.S. Pat. No. 2,224,470 issued Dec. 10, 1940 illustrates that side-loading structures are also known. Some of these early designs included a rotatable spindle on which the paper roll was mounted, while in others, the paper roll was simply confined within a tubular chamber without any spindle.
In order to prevent the free end of the paper roll from being accidentally withdrawn back through the slot into the pen barrel, various means such as rachet mechanisms were provided to ensure that the paper roll could not rotate in a reverse direction. See, e.g., Moore U.S. Pat. No. 2,512,168 issued June 20, 1950 and Moore U.S. Pat. No. 1,266,299 issued May 14, 1918. It is also known to employ a tension block for holding the paper roll in position. See, for example, Calvento U.S. Pat. No. 1,431,722 issued Oct. 10, 1922. More advanced designs provided means for extending and retracting the free end of the paper roll from the slot by, for example, rotating part of the pen cap. See, for example, Moore U.S. Pat. No. 1,359,725 issued Nov. 23, 1920, and Ritzert U.S. Pat. No. 2,005,110 issued June 18, 1935. Feeding mechanisms of this general type have included friction roller type dispensers actuated by a pair of meshing gears. Josephs U.S. Pat. No. 2,287,618 issued June 23, 1942, illustrates one such design for a nonwriting implement.
Other early devices approached the problem of providing a writing implement with a built-in paper supply somewhat differently. In some devices the paper or writing material was provided in the form of individual pieces or sheets, see, e.g. Gray U.S. Pat. No. 2,081,036 issued May 18, 1937, and Bruck et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,301,364 issued Nov. 10, 1942. Another design provided a paper roll as an attachment to a writing implement such as a pencil. See, for example, Sinclair U.S. Pat. No. 1,322,966 issued Nov. 25, 1919.
More recently attention has turned to providing multifunction writing instruments having a multiplicity of useful functions, i.e. containing a knife, paper clip, ruler, and writing instrument all built into the same device. See, for example, Chao U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,397 issued July 29, 1986, Parry U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,852 issued June 8, 1975, Schuh U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,195 issued Apr. 16, 1968 and Waterbury U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,685 issued Mar. 30, 1965. Little recent effort has been directed to improving the operation or convenience of the older paper dispensing writing implements.
Such known paper dispensing writing implements lacked a convenient means for replacing the paper supply. Generally, replacing the paper roll involved cumbersome steps of positioning a loose paper roll within the tubular paper chamber and threading the free end through a narrow slot by hand, possibly including the additional step of feeding the free end of the paper through a friction roller mechanism as well. The early designs also fail to provide a paper-dispensing manual writing implement which combines the advantages of a paper dispenser with the well-known spring action, retractable tip ballpoint pens. The latter are currently in wide use, and provide a mechanism for alternately advancing and retracting a writing tip in response to pressing a button generally located at the cap end of the pen. Patents exemplifying such pens include the patents to Weisser, Johnson and Malm cited below. These pens may be placed in a pocket with the writing tip in retracted position without fear of ink from the tip marking the fabric.
The present invention concerns a more convenient paper dispensing writing implement containing a roll of paper which is dispensed as needed from within the barrel of the writing implement.